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.en nu e O. N A L O S R GRIPPING DEVICE PoR CABLE RAILWAYS. No. 316,670.

Patented Apr. 28, 1885.

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R. SOLANO.

GRIPPING DBVIGBPOR CABLE RAILWAYS. No. 316,670. Patented Apr. 28,` 1885.

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RENALDO SOLANO, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO- THIRDS TO FREDERICK BODE AND GEORGE E. COX, OF SAME PLACE.

GRIPPING DEVICE FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,670, dated April 28, 1885.

Application filed September 5, 1884. (No model.) i

To @ZZ whom it 11i/ty concern.-

Be it known that I, RENALDO SOLANO, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, in the State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gripping Devices for Cable Railways, and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my said invention, reference being had to the drawings that accompany and form part of this specication.

My invention relates to improvements in gripping devices to connect railway-vehicles with propelling-cables in that system of propulsion now employed in street-railways, and generally known as the endless-cable systern.

These improvements consist, first, in a novel construction of grip-frame; secondly, in the combination, with the movable jaw of such gripping devices, of a cable-carrying sheave and means for moving it along with and also independently of the movable jaw 5 and, thirdly, in a novel construction of jaw-operating mechanism for moving the shank or bar that carries the movable jaw.

The object and purpose of these improvements and the manner in which I proceed to produce, construct, apply, and use them are fully set forth in the following description.

Referring to said drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of my improved grip, showing the position of the parts when the jaws are open and the cable loosened. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken transversely. Fig. 3 shows details of the device for working the cablecarrying sheave. Fig. 4L shows the position' of the parts when the jaws are closed upon the cable. Fig. 5 is a cross-section at :t y, Fig. 4.

That part which I term the grip-frame77 carries the fixed jaw of the grip, and gives a supporty and guide for the shank or slide-bar of the movable jaw. It also presents bearings and attachments for the grip-operating mechanism, and in that style of grip known as the lever-grip7 this frame is carried upon short upright pins or bolts that project above the truck of the car or dummy in front of and behind the well. oropening in the loor. I

make this grip-frame in separate parts, that are separable and detachable one from another, so that as one part is broken or becomes worn and reduced in strength it can be taken out and a new part inserted in its place. The jaws and dies and the side bars, against which the edges of the slot in the roadway are constantly rubbing and chafing, can be renewed as often as required, while the remainder of the frame and parts is utilized and made serviceable. The side bars, A A, are set upright and parallel, and are held in this position, with a slot or space between them extending from top to bottom for the movable bar or slide B, by means of the crossbars C C and the arched fra-me or piece D, that surrounds the top part and is bolted at the lower part to the hanger-bar. In this bar are the eyes Ci, to take the bolts on the truck. This gives a frame in which the side bars, A, are readilyreplaced, as circumstances require. The lower jaw is composed of two dies, E E, that set into boxes or sockets E E on the lower ends of the bars A, and each one is in length about equal to the width of the bar, or so that a space between the two dies in the center of the grip is afforded for a sheave, G; but the upper jaw consists ofa single die, F, or a single continuous gripping-surface of the full width of the frame. This die is set into a socket in a slotted bar, F, through the slots of which the stationary bars and the slide-bar are inserted, this part F being i bolted to the end of the slide-bar B, and being also iitted closely to the stationary bars, but capable of lsliding smoothly upon them as the jaw is moved. This construction keeps the movable jaw true, and insures an even movement and an equal pressure of the jaw upon the cable. The edges of the slide-bar B may be finished-square to fit theinner edges of the side bars or they may be chamfered to take into grooves in the edges of the bars. To the upper part of this slide is connected the mechanism by which it is moved up and down to work the movable jaw. This feature of my improvement is shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. It consists of two irregularly-shaped segments, H H set in line one against the other,

with the contiguous edges provided with roo toothed segments h h*, that gear with each other. The center of each segment is a bolt or pin, h2 h3, of which the one,h2, carrying the upper segment, H, has 'a bearing in the frame at (1*, (see Fig. 4,) but 'the other, h3, takes through the slide B. The segment on this pin therefore can move up and down inaddition to its movement of rotation upon this center. The segment-gears H H* are eccentric in character, having each a longer and a shorter side, that are regularly brought intov line by the rotation of the one or the other of the segments on its center.l The effect of this rotation is to produce rectilinear movement of t-he center ha toward and away from the,

fixed center-h2, according to the direction of rotation. Vertical movement of the slide B then results from rotation of the segments against each other, and the movable jaw of the grip is raised or lowered.

To keep the two gears in working contact, I form a curved portion, H2, on the segment H* below the center h3, with a curve of such shape'with respect to the length of the vertical movements of the center h3 that its plain untoothed edge h4 shall keep always in contact with the top surface presented by the stationary lcross-bar C of the frame. This cam-shaped portion of the lower segment, H*, therefore, has its shorter radius opposed to the longer radius of the gears and its longer side against their shorter sides, while the character of the curves given to the gears and this camshaped segment regulates the movementoffthe center h3, so that by varying the curves and changing the relative lengths of the longer and shorter sides the movement imparted or produced in the slide can be made more or less abrupt or increased at any point, as required. This construction of grip-operating mechanism enables the power to be applied to the moving jaw with a gradual increase, and to give the greatest pressure at the end of the movement, and also as abruptly as may be desired.

To apply the power directly in line with the slide-bar and to insure a true vertical movement, I employ two sets of the toothed segments and place them on opposite sides of Athe frame,land to work them simultaneously I use a single lever, J, with a fork or two branches, J* J*, at the endof which one is xed to one toothed segment, and the other one to the corresponding segment on the 0pposite side of the frame.

In the construction shown in the drawings, the pin h3 carries the two segments, and the ends J J* of the lever are xed on the outer ends of the pin. The sheave G is carried by an auxiliary slide-bar, K,- on the lower end of which is a long bearing, k, to take the spindle y of the sheave, and to the upper end of the slide is connected a lever, L, for moving it up and down independently of the principal slide.

These parts hold the sheave up to the movable jaw, and at such distance from the face of the die that when the jaw is raised the cable is carried by the sheave, and when the jaw is depressed and the cable is clamped between the two dies the sheave isbelow the line of the face of the lower dies.

In thisposition of the sheave the space under the center of the upper die between it andl the bottom of the groove in the sheave is greater than the thickness of the cable, while the space between the two at the edge of` the sheave is less than this thickness. When the movable jaw is raised, therefore, the cable is confined within the grip and cannot slip out from between the jaws. sheave and mov able jaw together is preserved during the ordinary operation of the gripas when starting and stopping the carand the cable is kept in such close position or relation to the movable gripping-surface that a short vertical movement of the jaw serves to clamp or`to release the cable. The slide that carries the sheave is set into a slot or groove in the back of the principal slide, and the lever by which the sheave is separately raised and lowered is fixed upon the prin,- cipal slide as well, sothat in moving the u'pper jaw by means of its operating-lever thev sheave follows and is kept at the same distance from thejaw. The independent movement of the sheave is necessary in unshipping the cable, or throwing it out of the grip and in the taking it in again. i

The means of lmoving the sheave separately from the jaw consists of the lever fixed on a stud, m, that forms a fulcrum on `the slidebar B. The end of this lever is slotted at p, and-a pin, q, projecting from the back of' the slide takes into this slot. The weight of the lever is counterbalanced, and the position of the sheave with respect to the jaw on the yslide is controlled and regulated by the spring r and an adjustable stop, s-the one applied beneath the toe or extension t of this lever, and the other placed above it. The adjustable stop is a screw having a bearing in an ear, t2, on Vthe back of the slide-bar B. Figs. l and 3 show these parts. At the back oi the slide-bar on the spindle-bearing of sheave G is an oiler-chamber, through which the spindle runs. The great speed at which the sheave G revolves when the grip is open and the cable running through it requires the spindle to be Akept well lubricated. This.

chamber is on an extension of the hub. The

dies E E are separate blocks with concave Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a cable-gripping device, the combina- This position of 8o 'IIO IZO

tion of a suitable frame, fixed gripping-surfaces E E, movable gripping-surface F, and a cable-carrying sheave, G, located between the fixed gripping-surfaces and mounted on a slide, by which it is raised and lowered at the same time with as well as independently of the movable gripping surface, substantially as herein described. Y

2. The combination, with a set of gripping jaws or surfaces in a cable-gripping device, of which one surface is composed of two separate jaws, or a jaw divided transversely by a center space, of the movable cable-carrying sheave G, located between said jaws or in said space, and connected to orwith the mechanism that operates the other jaw of the grip to follow said jawin its movements, and means connected with said sheave to move it independently of said jaw as well, substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

3. In a cable-gripping device, the combination of a two-part gripping-surface,stationary, a gripping-surface movable toward and away from this opposite stationary surface, a cablecarrying sheave, G, located between the two parts of the fixed gripping-surface, a slide or carrier, K, for moving it up and down with 4relation to the fixed gripping-surface, a slide or carrier, B, having the movable jaw secured to it, and by which the jaw is operated, and connection of the sheave-carrier and the movable jaw-carrier in such manner that whileA the sheave can be locked to the movable jawcarrier to preserve a certain position with respect thereto and move with it, an independent movement of the sheave is also allowed, for the purpose of raising and depressing it alone, substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

4. In a cable-gripping device, a frame composed of separable and removable parts A A C C D, the sliding carrier F', to hold a gripping-surface, and the boxes or sockets E E on the plates A A, to hold the gripping-jaws E, substantially as hereinbefore described.

5. In a cable-gripping device, the combination of the toothed segment H, movable on a fixed center, the similarly-formed segment H having an eccentric or cam-shaped portion, ift,

and,` movable on `a center which is fixed to the slide B, a fixed bearing-surface, as C, in line with said cam-shaped portion, and a lever, J, connected with one of said segments, substantially as hereinbefore described, to operate as set forth.

6. The combination,with the slide B,of the toothed segments. H H`f, one of which is mounted on a xed center, and the other of which is xed. to the slide and has an eccentric or camshaped extension, and the fixed bearing-surface, against which the eccentric portion of said segment is held in Working contact, and the lever J, as a means for rotating said segments,snbstantially as hereinbefore described.

7. In a cable-gripping device, the combination of the principal slide B, to operate the movable jaw, an auxiliary slide, K, carrying a sheave, G, and mechanism, connecting the two slides together, by which the operating mechanism of the principal slide is caused to move the two slides together and preserve the relative positions of the gripping-jaw and the sheave, said mechanism being adapted also to move the auxiliary slide independently, 'substantially as hereinbefore described.

8. The combinatiomwith the auxiliary slide K, carried by the principal slide B, of the lever lL, with slotted end p, the stud g, foot t, spring r, and stop s, substantially as hereinbefore described.

9. The combination, with the xed gripframe and movable bar or slide B of the toothed segments H H, mounted on the frame, the segments Hi H55, centered on the stud h3, to which the slide B is attached, the stationary bearing-surfaces C on the frame, and the forked lever J, substantially as hereinbefore described, to operate as set forth.

10. Acable-gripping device comprising the following parts or elements: a fixed frame, a movable plate or slide carrying a gripping-jaw on the lower end and connected at the upper end to a lever or other equivalent operating device, a two-part or divided stationary gripping-surface mounted on the frame, and a cable-carrying sheave located in the space between the parts comprising its fixed grippingsurface, and connected by suitable mechanism with a lifting device above, to raise and depress the said sheave simultaneously with the said movable gripping-surface, as well as to enable the said sheave to be raised and depressed independently of the gripping-surface, substantially as hereinbefore described.

BENALDO SOLANO. [L s] Witnesses:

EDWARD E. OsBoRN, JN0. L. TAGGARD.

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